November j, loay 



THE TROPICAL AGRiCULTURIST, 



JOX 



WHAT AILS CEYLON COFFEE? 



Our correspoudent "Swadfly" (on page 316) does 

 not believe that the action of hemihia vasUUrix, defici- 

 ency of sun-heat or the ravages of grubs, are the direct 

 causes of the evil. He does not exactly eay that to 

 excessive forest-felling is due the abnormal seasons 

 from which we have suffered, althougli he leaves 

 room for that inference. But he distinctly charges 

 on the indiscriminate felling of forest the absence of 

 pollen-carrying bees by which in old days the coffee 

 blossoms were cross-fertilized. Deprived of the aid 

 of the bees, the trees, already degenerated from the 

 use of unsuitable seed in the formation of nurseries, 

 took to self-fertilization with further disastrous re- 

 sults. The trees thus weakened became an easj- 

 prey to the fungus, the spores of which, our cor- 

 respondent holds, were always present although in 

 too small quantity to be noticed. If our correspond- 

 ent means that the spores were present amongst the 

 cultivated coffee, as well ns on the wild coffees of 

 our jungle, we must express our scepticism. All 

 we know of the spores of liemileia vastatrix leads us 

 to question the possibility of their remaining latent 

 when they once found the way into the expanses of their 

 special food. We cau understand coffee trees being 

 weakened as the result of a bad choice of seed, and 

 it is just possible the bee-theory may be also cor- 

 rect. On this latter point we should like to have 

 the opinions of other observers. As far as blossom 

 to attract bees has been concerned, there was surely 

 always more blossom on coffee estates than bees could 

 find in the jungles, except in the years when the 

 nilu flowered. But our correspondent's theory is that 

 it was the weakness thus engendered which invited 

 and led to the attacks of hpmileia vastatrix, and, when 

 the trees had been further weakened by the oper- 

 ations of the leaf-fungus, their roots suffered iu 

 sympathy, aud the grubs (thoughtful and Benevolent 

 organisms) came into the fieW to restore the equi- 

 librium of foliiigo aud roots by eating up those portions 

 of the latter which had commeiiced_ to decay. Facta 

 seem to us to be against the assumptions of " Swaddy." 

 In 1809, when the fungus was first observed on the 

 coffee estates of Ceylon, there was a laige proportion 

 of naturally vigorous coffee iu existence, which re- 

 ceived the support of liberal applications of manures: 

 indeed, it is to the manures, especially castor cake, 

 that the editor of the Indian Agriculturist at- 

 tributes the appearance of heinileia and its ravages 1 

 When the fungus once commenced to attack the 

 cultivated coffee, it dealt impartially with the young- 

 est and most vigorous trees and the oldest and 

 most "shuck." All were alike the objects of at- 

 tack, although naturally the young aud vigorous trees 

 Buffered less at first from the loss of i cpealed crops 

 of foliage aud were longest in shewiug the full effect 

 of the weakening process. If our correspondent says 

 that the substitution of unbroken expanses of cotfie 

 for unbroken expanses of forest rendered the coffee 

 epfci.iUy liable to attacks of fungal and insect 

 enemies, we are with him ; and he and others, 

 if they choose to trace abnormal and uugenial 

 seasons of sun-liidiug clouds and bloisom-aud- 

 fruit-destroyiug rain-storms, to the same causes, in- 



Btea! of to great cosmic aud cyclical influences 

 39 



which vrill by-and-bye bring "a change," they are 

 at liberty to do so. We need only mc uion that 

 while such a careful observer as Mr. Gil « Walker 

 traces much of the ailment of our coffee tiees to de- 

 ficient warmth, Mr. Vincent, the Forester, apparently 

 determined iu the face of all evidence to sup;joit a fore- 

 gone conclusion and aso-called scientific theury, insisted 

 that in consequence of extensive forest-el -aring, the 

 temperature of the Ceylon coffee region ha^ been 

 raised ! We believe iu cycles of wet and dry weather ; 

 cold and hot ; and, while the everlasting hills stand 

 up against the sky, we cannot attach nui h import- 

 ance to all the forest that has been felled in the 

 mountain region of Ceylon. We know that the ab- 

 solute rainfall has not been lessened. But for the 

 act that hemileia vastatrix appeared almost simul- 

 taneously over the greater portion of the Eastern worid, 

 we should be strongly inclined to suspect that the 

 immediate cause of the outbreak of the fungus iu 

 Ceylon was the destruction, in clearing aud plant- 

 ing operations, of so large a portion of indigenous 

 trees of the coffee tribe. We leave that point 

 for consideration. What is certain is that iu IMay 

 1869, now over fourteen years ago, the fungus 

 found out where its food lay in abundance, that 

 it commenced its ravages and that the effect 

 has been disastrous beyond that of all other causes 

 put together. We have heard the theory propounded 

 that fungus came on the leaves, because grub had 

 alre.ady done harm to the roots. The answer is that 

 hemileia vastatrix has been virulent where grub has 

 been unknown. But in some districts — in many, we 

 fear — grub is a terrible evil, and we only wish we 

 could accord with this writer's idea th: t the insects 

 attack exclusively withered or dead roots. If anything, 

 they unfortunately prefer fresh, vigorous rootlets as their 

 food. Black or brown bug has recently reappeared in 

 some force to add to tlie troubles of the sorely tried 

 planters. But our belief remains uushakeu that the 

 tungus (lid not come merely because our cotfee trees were 

 weak, but that their ever-increasing weakness is owing 

 to its advent. In some mysterious way the fungus 

 — which is not so much a disease as the cause of 

 disease — di.^covered great expanses of its favourite food, 

 and from that d.ay to this it has led on tlie life- 

 blood of the coll'ee trees, until some of them are 

 depleted almost to death, while all are more or less 

 sick. If we could only get rid of hemileia vastatrix, 

 we could deal with grub and bug and eudure 

 and recover from the effects of abnormal sea- 

 sons. As to breeding in-and-in and SLlf-fertilizitinn 

 tending to invite attacks of the fungus, let 

 us look at the case of Liberian coffe. We got 

 seed of this specially robust species ot coffee direct 

 from Liberia, and yet it has been as badly attacked 

 with the fungus as the Arabian coffee which has been 

 propagating itself here for many generations No ; 

 we do not think the mystery of the advance in force 

 of hemileia vastatrix has been solved by adducing the 

 growth of coffee from in-and-in-bred i-eed or self- 

 fertilization from the absence or pauoitj of bees, or 

 by any other theory than that which indicates that 

 somehow in lSli9 it discovered our coff. o fields, took 

 possession and has refused to be ousted As it came 

 like a shadow, we only wish it would so depart. 

 Then we should confidently hope for a real revival 

 of old kiug cotfee. We have a right to suggest the 

 possibility that the visitation has been providential 

 and designed, apart from its primi'ive aspect, 

 to compel the cultivation of a variity of pro- 

 ducts instead of one. Indeed, we h.ive a strng 

 belief in that direction. Nevertheless, the immedi- 

 ate effects are very grievous, and our (iutj is U"ne 

 the less to combnt with, aud, prossihle, to overcome 

 aud banish the scourge, so that, at lea t, what ii 

 left of our coffee may be he.ilty arnd {ru.tful. 



